House Of Reps Set To Grill Top Officials Of Govt On Key Policies

By Ayodele Oni

As part of measures to make political appointees be abreast of activities of their offices, the House of Representatives is set to unveil a Policy Brief Series for key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government.

The maiden edition, tagged ‘Sectoral Debates,’ will kick off on Thursday with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) leading other top officials to appear before the green house.

Spokesman for the green house, Akin Rotimi in a statement on Wednesday, explained that “the series forms part of initiatives by the Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, PhD – led 10th Assembly to improve its constitutional oversight of the Executive arm of government, and is in line with the Legislative Agenda for the 10th Assembly, which is now being finalized.

“The inaugural session will commence on Thursday, with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, and his Deputies, who have been invited to brief parliament about key policies of the apex bank.

“This is coming at a time that citizens are looking to the government for solutions to pressing social and economic challenges.

“In his remarks when announcing the development during plenary on Wednesday, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, PhD., stated that the series is in furtherance of the constitutional mandate of the House, urging Honourable Members to take advantage of the opportunity to be the voice of Nigerians, to engage the invited government officials on the key issues the country faces at this crucial point in time.

“Now, more than ever before, we need to ensure our policy-makers are making the right choices and decisions to address our security challenges and ensure long term growth and stability of our economy.

“The policy brief series will thereafter be followed by sessions with key officials in sectors such as Security, Power, Agriculture, etc., in subsequent plenary sessions, and will provide lawmakers the opportunity to ask invited government officials questions on areas requiring legislative interventions.”

The House Spokesman, Akin Rotimi stated that: “The Sectoral Debate Series is intended to provide political appointees and key government officials an opportunity to brief Members of the House of Representatives about the policies and programmes of their respective MDAs.

“These briefs are scheduled to take place during specific plenary sessions of the House, and would go a long way in fostering constructive and transparent dialogue between all arms of government in line with the Legislative Agenda of the Tenth House of Representatives.

“Citizens and indeed, our constituents are welcome to follow these sessions via our live broadcast platforms in order to gain perspectives on critical policies that shape the various sectors of our national life.”